Krusty Krab LEGO Ideas Set Reaches Review Stage

"Is this the Krusty Krab?" "No, it's a highly detailed replica of it!"

Ever wanted to bring the Krusty Krab from your TV and into your world? Well, you may soon be able to!

A talented LEGO set designer named Lanko has submitted a LEGO set based on the popular eating establishment where SpongeBob works in Nickelodeon's beloved animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, which recently became part of the "10k Member Club", surpassing the 10,000 supporters requirement on LEGO Ideas to get the project through to the review stage of the initiative, where LEGO will now test the set, titled The Krusty Krab - SpongeBob SquarePants, and decide whether it'll become one of the next LEGO Ideas LEGO sets for fans to purchase.

Below is the official description for the model. For the latest updates about the set, visit https://ideas.lego.com/projects/371ac729-1f11-4d8e-ba21-619dbed5e63f.

Ahoy mateys!

Introducing The Krusty Krab! The famous restaurant from many people's beloved childhood show - SpongeBob SquarePants, first airing all the way back in 1999!

This idea features 6 minifigures (7 if you include Plankton) the building itself, the clamshell sign, an enter sign, the dumpster, and a boat mobile! Now - let's get into the details!

Minifigures -

Each minifigure has been updated with new colors and new prints, as well as some other changes!

• SpongeBob : I'm ready! This hard-working employee comes with his work hat and his trusty spatula! How else could he serve up delicious Krabby Patties? Comes updated with a brighter yellow color, and dark orange shorts, as well as back printing.
• Patrick : SpongeBob's best buddy and a regular patron of The Krusty Krab comes sporting the new "coral" color, as well as mid-legs to more accurately represent his height.
• Squidward : Sour Squidward has been updated with a brighter blue color, and a dark orange shirt. He comes with his work hat and his clarinet.
• Mr. Krabs : Arg arg arg! The restaurant wouldn't be complete without its money loving owner! His pants now have updated colors.
• Sandy : Yeehaw! Sandy's been updated to include her tail, and a flower on her dome. More accurate colors of her suit, as well as dual legs to show off her boots.
• Plankton: Aha! Scheming Plankton! He comes complete with a new face print and a dark green clip piece as his antennae to top him off.
• Fred: My leg! Now this is new! As a bonus Fred is included as a regular customer, using the fish head piece. Comes in a nice olive green.

The Extras -

• Clamshell sign: The iconic clamshell Krusty Krab sign comes complete with lush sealife below. I made sure this is structurally stable, as well as detailed. Comes with a printed panel piece for the logo.
• Dumpster: A handful of classic scenes came from this very dumpster, I've referenced one with a print of "Squidward Smells" on the front of the dumpster! Can be opened and closed, and comes with 3 dumpster bags - 2 inside and 1 outside.
• Enter sign: This needed sign serves as advertisement as well as directions!
• Boatmobile: Can't get around without this! Bikini Bottom's most popular form of transportation - a speed boat with wheels! Completed with a stick shift, steering wheel, yellow rotor at the rear and a flag at the front.
• Two Krabby Patties: The Krusty Krab's signature menu item! This idea includes two of them.

The Krusty Krab -

Here's the good bit! The front of the double door building has a hanging net showcasing nautical flags, as well as protruding nails from the many planks the restaurant is built up of. The front window has a Krabby Patty sign indicating that yes, they do sell Krabby Patties! The side arches are held together with tied net ropes. Around the back is a window to the kitchen, as well as a back door. On top is a smoke chimney and a weather vane… or an antenna? I'm not exactly sure what that is actually.

The build comes apart in 6 modular pieces for easier access! The front and back wall, front and back roof, the top roof and finally the interior roof. Now let's get to the rooms!

• Dining area : Decked out with 4 ship wheel tables, 2 barrel seats for each. Squidward's boat where he takes orders is also here, as well Mr. Krab's beloved cash register. Above Squidward is the "galley grub" menu, and an "order here" sign. Two mast pillars with hanging rope on either end for better structure. Above the double doors is the ship wheel clock. Also included is a trash can storing a Nasty Patty and Condiment Island, where you can top up on utensils, condiments, etc.

On top of the main rooms is what I call the interior roof, filled with storage clutter. Boxes, cans, flour bags, barrels, an anchor and the chimney pipe from the kitchen to the roof.

• Kitchen : This is where SpongeBob grills the Krabby Patties for the hungry customers! Included are the grill, the fryer, a table for the buns and a station for applying condiments. Above the condiment station are hanging pans and other kitchenware. There's a closet for all of SpongeBob's belongings, a barrel full of patties, a sink and a bucket to mop the floors. A life bouy is also hung on the wall above the sink.
• Mr. Krabs' office: Mr. Krabs' money counting quarters, complete with his treasure chest desk loaded with dollar bills and coins, Mr. Krabs' chair, a shelf and a window. Included is a seat for meetings with the boss, as well as a lantern hanging from the top masts. Let's not forget the all important safe for the Krabby Patty secret formula too!
• Bathroom: For all your hygienic needs! One stall is included, complete with a toilet, paper, and a flush. Mounted on the wall is a sink and mirror, and to the left of that is a locker for SpongeBob and Squidward.

To Conclude -

I strongly believe a return of LEGO SpongeBob would be much loved by many! This idea is aimed at all age ranges too, with both playability and aesthetics in mind! A nostalgic teen or adult could enjoy this just as much as a kid would.

This was very fun (and at times, challenging) to design, and I learnt a lot from my experience in setting everything up for this submission!

Your support for this idea would be incredibly appreciated and very welcome! :)

I'm dedicating this to SpongeBob's creator - Stephen Hillenburg. Thank you for my childhood.

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The 2.999-piece set will also include Gary, SpongeBob's beloved pet snail. Gary uses all new updated colors, coming in a new coral colored shell too.

Nickelodeon Launches German SpongeBob YouTube Channel, To Launch Korean and Japanese Nick YouTube Channels

Nickelodeon is set to grow it's international presence on YouTube!

During his keynote address at TV Kids Summer Festival 2022, Jules Borkent, Managing Director (MD) and Executive Vice President (EVP) of international kids and family brands at Paramount Global, revealed: “As a company, it’s been challenging for us in the past. We’re a pay-TV business, a streaming service; how do we manage that YouTube universe? We know our content is incredibly popular on YouTube, and we know kids are on YouTube in vast amounts. We’ve been figuring out how we can expand that even further."

Borkent continued: "We launched Nick Jr. Español for our Latin American service; that channel’s being watched all over the world, not just in Latin America. We’re about to launch Nickelodeon Korea and Nickelodeon Japan. SpongeBob Germany launched recently as well. We’re looking at YouTube as a platform to bring our content to a [wider audience] in a different format.”

More Nick: Nickelodeon Supercharges Its Franchise Strategy With Steady Stream of New Premium Content for 2022-23 Season!

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Jules Borkent Talks Content Strategy at Nickelodeon, Paramount Plus

Jules Borkent, Managing Director (MD) and Executive Vice President (EVP) of international kids and family brands at Paramount Global, discussed his programming strategy at the TV Kids Summer Festival before being honored with the TV Kids Pioneer Award.

Borkent’s keynote conversation with TV Kids’ Kristin Brzoznowski—which you can view here—kicked off with Borkent discussing how his role has expanded since the rollout of Paramount+.

“One thing about working at Nickelodeon—and I’ve been working here a long time—is that there’s always change. I always look at change as another opportunity for us to serve our kids around the world with our great content. With the proliferation of platforms and the rollout of Paramount+ around the world, there are a lot of changes, but all good. I’m super excited about what’s ahead. There’s never a dull moment in the kids’ industry! We are working hard on getting our streaming services off the ground in the U.K., France, Germany and Italy this year. Kids is a super important part of our platform. We’ve always known this—Nickelodeon is a shining star in [the portfolio of what is] now Paramount, and that’s no different for Paramount+. From what we know in the U.S. and see in Latin America, Australia and the Nordics, Nick’s content is incredibly popular with our audiences. So, I’m super excited to be on this big, new adventure.”

Borkent then discussed some of the themes guiding his content strategy at present. “We looked in our vaults at the content that was popular in the past, and we’ve brought some of the big shows back. A good example is iCarly, one of our most beloved shows that is still very popular, also with an older audience. She’s still the same character, so she’s older now. What was exciting for us was to bring that show back in a new format for a new audience—both a nostalgic audience but also a new audience, an older audience, and that is what’s exciting to me. The streaming platform is offering an opportunity to step out of our traditional box of 2- to 11-year-old content, which we still do, and we make a lot of, but that’s really what has been fun for me—how we have been able to bring shows like Rugrats and iCarly back with great enthusiasm from both nostalgic and older, now-adult viewers who grew up with that content and bring it to a brand-new audience.”

Borkent discussed the company’s franchise strategy around megabrands like SpongeBob SquarePants. “We did a great spin-off called Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years. It launched on Paramount+ in the U.S. and was a fantastic success. While we launched it as a Paramount+ exclusive in the U.S., we very quickly transitioned it to the linear service, and there, it did phenomenally well. We did The Patrick Star Show, which was another SpongeBob spin-off. We announced for PAW Patrol a spin-off around Rubble. We’re bringing back Dora the Explorer. It’s coming back in two iterations. One is a new CGI preschool series. We are also in development on an older show, more in the tween space, based on the Paramount movie we did a couple of years ago. It’s just a fantastic pool of content we can delve into and work for the different platforms. The Dora live-action show will not be for the Nickelodeon linear channel; it’s very much for streaming. But I am hoping, for international, the Dora show will not just be on Paramount+ but can also find a home on linear after. We cross-pollinate our platforms, and I think these franchises are ideal for that.”

Original IP, however, remains key to the group, Borkent added. “We are known for bringing brand-new content to our audience, and that’s what we’re continuing to do in the U.S. and internationally.” Examples include Rock Island Mysteries, a live-action series with Network 10 and Fremantle in Australia and The Twisted Timeline of Sammy & Raj with Viacom18 in India. “Nickelodeon India has been producing a lot of home-grown content, and we’ve always been trying to work with them. How can we make a show together that works in India and also will work internationally? We hope that this show is going to be doing that. And with these launches of the Paramount+ platforms, how can we look at these local markets like France, Germany, the U.K., Italy? How do we find in those markets content that will build our platforms internationally? We’ve had some great success recently with a recent acquisition, Barbapapa, that came out of France. And The Smurfs launched this year with great success, and we’re about to go into a second season and in development on a Paramount movie for that.”

On the approach to acquisitions and content partnerships, Borkent said: “We’re flexible. What streaming has done for us is that we are more open to different formats. In the past, we were pretty prescriptive for what we needed—2x11s, 22 minutes, maybe some short-form sometimes. Now it’s looking at shows that still fit the Nickelodeon ethos—making the world a more playful place, comedy, laughter, still very important, grounded in reality for kids to recognize themselves. We are open to different formats now. We’re even looking at one-hour versions for streaming in shorter orders. It’s still longer orders for linear because, despite what everybody says, linear is still very much alive and a very important part of our business. We are looking for all platforms. Mainly, what we are going to be looking for in the animation space is comedy. Action-adventure will also be of some interest to us, given that we are just about to launch Transformers with our partners at Hasbro later this year. We’re looking at [Teenage Mutant Ninja] Turtles in a new iteration. We also announced Avatar Studios, where we are looking at the Avatar world and how we can bring that back for Paramount+ and potentially for linear services.”

Borkent stressed that linear is still vital as the company devises its rollout strategies. “Each piece of content is being treated on its own, so where is the best place to launch this? It could be on streaming, it could also be on linear, and it could stay on streaming forever and never move, or it can stay on linear and not go to streaming. Most of our linear content will eventually transition to streaming, but the platforms must have a unique offering. We think about these things. Our linear channels are shifting in how we program them. I remember the days when everything was to the minute; at every half-hour, there was a new piece of content. We’ve noticed over the years that it is shifting a lot. There’s a lot more volume of content that kids want to see over and over again. We are also expanding our linear services. In the U.K., we have two Nick Jr. channels that both show such a breadth of content. That is why linear is still really important. It’s a real shop window for us, for our best and finest, and that is what we want to continue to do. But we have to acknowledge that kids have a voracious appetite and are on a ton of platforms.”

On leveraging the company’s global footprint, Borkent noted that local shows like Spyders from Israel are seeing traction internationally. “As long as the stories are universal, they can appeal anywhere. One thing that Covid taught us is that international content became so much more widely available. Are kids interested in content from this particular area of the world? They are. We see more and more of this content catching on. That is a huge opportunity for us as content creators, as an international business, to tap into this real creative talent that we have in all these markets and work with local creatives to create shows and help them craft them in a way that we believe can live outside very specific markets.”

On an approach to crafting a show that will resonate across the world, Borkent noted: “We want shows to be watched as much as possible, so we do think about what are some of the universal themes that are appealing all around the world. Comedy is one of them. In preschool, we’ve shown that making the world a playful place and for kids to be engaged in our preschool content has helped us. If I knew how to make a global hit, I would be a very wealthy man independently. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. You make a lot of shows, and some catch on; sometimes, you don’t even know why. That’s also the excitement. What is considered a global hit and what is considered a success are two different things. PAW Patrol is definitely a global hit, as is SpongeBob, and we’ve had a fair share, and still do, that are considered global successes. But I look at what could be a success in a number of key markets, and that’s also really important to me. If this is a great hit in Europe, everything else is gravy, everything else is extra.     A great hit in Asia, Australia or Latin America. We’ve had shows that were phenomenal to kids in Latin America that did well for us internationally, and that is just fantastic. Success for me is around if we make kids in a certain market happy and excited to see the content, that’s good enough for me.”

On growth opportunities looking ahead, Borkent mentioned opportunities with YouTube. “As a company, it’s been challenging for us in the past. We’re a pay-TV business, a streaming service; how do we manage that YouTube universe? We know our content is incredibly popular on YouTube, and we know kids are on YouTube in vast amounts. We’ve been figuring out how we can expand that even further. We launched Nick Jr. Español for our Latin American service; that channel’s being watched all over the world, not just in Latin America. We’re about to launch Nickelodeon Korea and Nickelodeon Japan. SpongeBob Germany launched recently as well. We’re looking at YouTube as a platform to bring our content to a [wider audience] in a different format.”

Gaming is also crucial around major franchises. Pluto TV, Paramount’s AVOD service, is a significant growth opportunity, Borkent said, “to dig into our library of content. Some of that content no longer lives on current linear services, but there’s still a real appetite for some of those shows on Pluto. How we manage from linear channels to streaming services to FAST services to YouTube to make our content available to as many of our fans as possible.”

The keynote wrapped with Borkent being presented with the TV Kids Pioneer Award for his many contributions to the global kids’ business, having started at Nickelodeon in the late 1990s. “Nickelodeon was early in the pay-TV world. It was very different. What I love about what I do is that the content that we create, the shows that we create, still put smiles on kids’ faces. They love our shows, and that is just something that, despite the proliferation of platforms, they still come to us and watch our shows. And I’m proud of my team and the people I work with. I always say change is good. You have to be able to cope with change, and that’s tough sometimes, especially after the two years we’ve had, but that’s where you have to keep looking forward, don’t look back. Well, you can look back in a good way and look at some great shows that are ready for reinvention, but I think looking forward makes it so exciting. There’s always something to look forward to.”

Original source: TVKIDS.

From TVKIDS:

Spotlight: Paramount

Featuring the backdrop of Australia’s Gold Coast, the live-action series Rock Island Mysteries tops Paramount’s kids’ highlights.

“Family, friendship and adventure are universal themes in the show that resonate with kids around the world,” says Chris Rose, VP of international production and development for Paramount Kids & Family.

Star Trek: Prodigy features a new motley crew of young aliens who are navigating a greater galaxy in search of a better future.

Transformers: EarthSpark introduces a new generation of the robots, who are the first to be born on Earth.

“Nickelodeon has an exciting international programming lineup for the summer and beyond, with many more new and returning series launches,” Rose adds.

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More Nick: Nickelodeon Supercharges Its Franchise Strategy With Steady Stream of New Premium Content for 2022-23 Season!

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Latin American Kids’ Sector Put in Focus at 2022 TV Kids Summer Festival

Nickelodeon’s Migdalis Silva and Grupo Globo’s Luiz Filipe Figueira recently took part in the final panel of the TV Kids Summer Festival.

The session, which you can view here, saw Silva, Vice President (VP) and brand lead for Nickelodeon Latin America, and Figueira, head of programming and content strategy for kids at Grupo Globo, discuss their strategies in conversation with Rafael Blanco, the associate editor of TV Latina.

The panel opened with the executives discussing how their strategies have shifted as kids move more to nonlinear services. “The landscape has opened a door for amazing stuff we can do with the kids’ world,” Silva said. “They’re everywhere. As programmers, we must be very smart about where we put the content.” Nickelodeon is deploying a “smart windowing strategy,” she noted. “Not everything goes on the linear side. There’s content that is exclusive to the digital world. There’s content that goes exclusively to our streaming platform, Paramount+. We have content for the linear channels. We have content that goes strictly to our YouTube channel. It’s about how you plan, creating this windowing strategy for the content. We also invest a lot in events where we can interact with the viewers.”

Gloob, Globo’s flagship kids’ service, has been a “360-degree brand since its inception,” Figueira said. “We are the newest kids’ channel among all our competitors in Brazil. Back in 2013, a year after its launch and way before this consumption shift to nonlinear, we anticipated that trend and always had in mind that we needed to track kids wherever they were. Our programming and digital teams work closely to provide this interaction, be it on social media or external platforms such as YouTube. We evolved our strategy at the same time that kids’ consumption was shifting.”

On digital-first strategies, Silva pointed to Garden Academy, a preschool learning show developed with the Bénédict International Language School in Ecuador exclusively for the Noggin SVOD service. “It had such a great response that we commissioned more seasons and then tested it on the linear channel as a short-form, and it worked beautifully. Then we extended it to Paramount+.” Nick Snack, meanwhile, was created just for YouTube and was subsequently tested on linear.

Figueira noted, “We’ve successfully created several spin-offs in which we were able to try out different narratives, especially those that are digital-native, such as blogs, online gaming and so on. On Globoplay, we’ve been more and more inverting windows and testing content before it goes to linear. So depending on the concept and how the show is in line with Globo’s linear or nonlinear strategy, we’ll decide which window to premiere it in.”

On the role of acquisitions, Silva said there is a unit buying for the entire global footprint, while she and her team also make local acquisitions, notably in Brazil, where there is a domestic content quota. “As a company, we try to do everything globally. We used to make acquisitions independently, and then we realized it didn’t benefit the productions. It makes more success when you make a global acquisition, let’s say in the case of The Smurfs.”

As a local player, “it’s easier for us to make decisions and be as fast as possible to track and license or prebuy or make a co-production deal with international IPs that are super relevant in our territory,” Figueira said. “We’ve experienced enormous success with international brands, carving out international deals exclusively in Brazil. And, of course, our original strategy and IPs are key for us. We’re the only Brazilian kids’ channel.” It’s a 50-50 split between international acquisitions and local commissions, he noted.

On using data to inform programming decisions, Silva said, “It’s so necessary. We look through data every day, every week. We gain an understanding of the consumption habits of the audience. Especially now that there are so many windows and options, we need to know where the kids are. We need to know if they’re watching the linear channel, apps or YouTube channel. We need to understand where they are right now. We can determine what is driving that performance. Trends [in what kids are interested in] are amazingly important. You need to be top of mind with them and understand their world.”

“We’ve all become data addicts!” Figueira added. “It’s part of our routine,” with the company tracking habits across linear and nonlinear and hosting focus groups and off-air events. “It’s always key to get a real-life sense of what kids are feeling and looking forward to watching on TV. But beyond data, there’s always a human eye evaluating content and anticipating trends. We can gather all the data and information, but, you know, we still need that feeling for a show or a concept.”

On trends to watch for the remainder of the year and into 2023, Silva noted, “I think content creators today need to listen to their audience and see what they’re into. Especially now, with TikTok, everybody can produce content. It’s a big universe out there. It’s a matter of knowing what content you’re going to do. It can be cheap or expensive.”

“Our audience have become our main competitors today,” Figueira added. “It’s another level of being a protagonist, isn’t it? They want to host their shows. They want to speak up. It’s fantastic to see. One big challenge for us is that kids are more likely to watch shorter content. And for storytellers, it’s a challenge. Sometimes we can’t say what we want to say in 3 or 4 minutes. At the same time, all those platforms and services somehow look the same for kids. I think that brands will play a very important role in this shifting landscape, especially among kids. So the Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network, the Gloob, it’s super important for kids, especially in this changing media landscape.”

More Nick: Paramount Plus Expands Kids and Family Programming with New Slate of Films and Series from Nickelodeon Studios!

Original source: TVKIDS.

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'The Smurfs' Season 3 Currently in Development

A third season of the hit animated CG-animated series The Smurfs is currently in development, with season two slated to start airing in the fourth quarter of 2022!

Speaking to TVKIDS, Nele de Wilde, head of sales, production and business development, audiovisual and music at I.M.P.S., an official licensor of the iconic brand, said "[the series] is aimed at kids 5 to 10, and more generally at the whole family, with parents who will feel the nostalgia of their childhood.”

“Season two of our widely popular new The Smurfs TV series is set to start airing in Q4 of this year, and season three is currently in development,” she adds.

The company is also presenting the classic The Smurfs series from the ’80s to buyers, produced by Hanna-Barbera and remastered in HD.

Nickelodeon, LAFIG Belgium and IMPS announced a second season (26 episodes) pickup of the original CG-animated The Smurfs television series earlier this year. The all-new season will continue to follow the Smurfs on a variety of adventures, including time traveling, inventing a magic camera, accidental body swapping, and more. No release date was shared.

Season two of The Smurfs will introduce two new characters: Wild Smurf, who lives outside the village, in the heart of the forest,; and Leaf, a fairy destined to replace Mother Nature who is younger than we might expect, and a little bit flighty.

Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Pictures also announced at the same time that they have formed a deal with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS to produce multiple feature films based on The Smurfs, the iconic characters and stories created by Belgian artist Pierre Culliford, also known as Peyo. The first project under the new partnership is an animated musical feature film set to begin production in 2022 with a planned release on December 20, 2024.

Stream a mountain of entertainment with Paramount+! Try it FREE at ParamountPlus.com!

More Nick: Nickelodeon and Paramount Ink ‘The Smurfs’ Multi-Movie Deal, Announce Season Two Pickup!

Originally published: June 13, 2022.

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